What happens next
by klepotlfirt
Summary: This takes place after the end of the series. How much trouble can one girl find herself? The search is on for the missing doctor.
1. Saying goodbye

She was crying in her sleep again. It was the same dream. It was the same feeling of abandonment. She didn't know why she kept waking up feeling so lost and wrong. She had already been told while she'd been working for the World Health Organization she'd been exposed to some neuro toxin that had messed with her brain for a while. She had her work, she had her… coworkers, why did she feel like it was all wrong? Like she was missing something, like she didn't quite fit into her own life… but that was wishful thinking on her part. She'd always been the outsider. Too young, too smart, too shy, and too uncomfortable for others to truly get to know… so it was ridiculous to think her dreams were anything other than leftovers from some toxic chemical combination in her brain. At least she had her work.

*********

It had been a few months since Atlantis had taken up residence in the San Francisco Bay… Ronon and Sheppard were on another run… Finally the IOA had cleared Ronon and Teyla for off world missions again and so they finally got to leave Atlantis for somewhere else other than just the SGC. Ronon was going crazy, all he'd could do was train marines, exercise and try to avoid any reminders of Jen. It never worked… she was everywhere. At first she was underfoot as well, and he spent a lot of time avoiding her, unfortuneately she must have noticed this because she looked so sad the last time he'd seen her. She had getting ready to leave, he heard she was moving to a room at the SGC , closer to her new patients. She had been saying her farewells… okay he'd seen her earlier, walking out to the balconies, touching walls in remembrance, saying farewell. He'd been jogging when he saw her and he was curious what she was doing. He already hadn't really seen or talked to her in months… not since… well since she said she wasn't interested. That thought still stung. Ok, it still hurt like hell. Like someone stuck a hot poker in his chest and wrenched it. He had been so sure that it was mutual, that he'd finally found someone to understand him… Another mistake on his part. He hadn't meant to follow her, but curiosity at seeing her sad and nostalgic had made him follow her. For an hour she went from area to area, touching and lost in thought. Until she ended up in the gateroom.

_Four Months ago:_

"Guys… I didn't want anyone to know. What is all this?" Dr. Keller says smiling and blushing. She look around at about a dozen people and her medical staff, although her searching eyes doesn't see him. For a split second there's disappointment, but then she covers it up.

"We couldn't let our CMO leave without saying goodbye!" Sheppard says with a smirk, lifting his arms for a hug. "He'll be here" he whispers. "I don't know what happened to you to, but you can work it out."

She smiles at him and accepts the hug, "No…. I don't think he'll be here. I screwed it up, I don't want him to be uncomfortable in his own home… especially now. Don't worry about me, I'm used to it." She whispers to him, tears in her eyes. "Thank you though."

"I am next." Teyla says from John's elbow. "We shall miss you. Come back and visit…" she whispers, her eyes tightly close. As theytouch foreheads before giving each other a hug.

"Oh Teyla, I'm going to miss you" She holds tightly to Teyla's slight form.

"He'll come around, don't leave. You'll work it out." She says desperately… she knows both her friends are hurting, but both have so much feeling for the other. They had both confided in her, a little of what had happened… if only they would talk. If only Jennifer weren't so concerned with giving him the space she thinks he needs. She had started pulling away almost immediately… at first no one seemed to notice, John, Teyla and Ronon ate together and worked out together. Then one day she was missing, it had been over a month since any them had seen her outside of the infirmary.

Well, not everyone. Laura Cadman, Rodney and Evan Lorne could be seen occasionally getting her a bite to eat or forcing her to leave the infirmary. For anyone else she was too busy, or too tired, or too something. Teyla now wishes she'd forced the younger woman to open up to her, but Jennifer had been clear that Ronon needed all the support he could get, and she didn't feel he'd appreciate her hanging around.

"No, he won't. He's had plenty of opportunity, and really it's my fault. I'm just making things uncomfortable-"

"My turn, my turn!" Laura Cadman jumps up and down

"You 're escorting me!" Jennifer says loudly to her best friend.

"So, I wants some Jennifer hug time!"

"Okay." They embrace. Tears begin to slowly fall.

"Don't worry. We'll do this." Laura comforts for a second, then more loudly "Let's wrap this thing up, Jennifer has a date!" Everyone laughs at this. Hugs to everyone else with a few more tears and gentle ribbing from Lorne and his team. "Who'll look after you now?" Lorne whispers to her.

"Trust me, I won't need anyone to "look after me." I'll be fine. I'll still see you for a bit" She laughs at him, as if it's a joke. "Now you'll all need something new to bet on." She says much louder

"Its not the same and you know it." Lorne chastises her. "And that was all in fun" He whines loudly.

Rodney taps her shoulders awkwardly, "Listen Jen, If this is about…"

"Shhh, be happy with Katie. This is your second chance." She says quietly as she pulls him awkwardly in for a hug. "Don't screw it up this time. She loves you. Don't take her for granted."

"Thank you. If it weren't for you we…"

"It's okay Rodney. Leave it be." She steps away from him, sees a shadow move from the corner of her eye. By the time she looks he's gone.

She turns back to everyone else… "Take care, don't get too hurt, and I'll be seeing you around!"

That was months ago. He'd stayed in the shadows, watching her.

He had stayed hidden while she walked away. Tears and hurt in her eyes as she scanned the room one more time. Not seeing him in the shadows, but he saw her, and his chest ached all over again. This is why he ran all the time now, why even Sheppard had stopped sparring with him. He hurt and the only way he knew to deal with it was to hurt others, to lose himself in exercise and fighting... He needed to go off world, new missions, finally.

When John had cornered him in the shadows after she'd left, he'd been exasperated. He wanted explanations that he couldn't give. He'd wanted to know why he'd been avoiding her. She abandoned them, though. She left him. It was her. Why was everyone looking at him that way? Why'd she leave? He had brushed aside John's words and arm and left with a grunt. It had felt like time for a run.

Teyla later had told him she left because Atlantis was his home, and since he was avoiding her and she had hurt him. She felt she should leave. Sheppard told him Wolsey hadn't granted her transfer request, that he had loaned the good doctor out, but that when they were finally mission ready to leave the Milky Way he expected her back. After all she was his CMO. And he was hoping by then she'd have had enough down time on earth.

None of it helped though. Why didn't she love him? Was it just because he wasn't from Earth? Was it because he didn't talk much? Wasn't smart like her and the other scientists? Did she think he was a caveman, as Rodney always called him? Was his feelings too much for her? Too fast?

He had thought she'd chosen Rodney over him, and so after she left and he had seen Rodney with Katie Brown again, he'd growled and pulled McKay to the side to have a "conversation" with him. He'd stuttered out that she had set Katie and him back up. That Jen hadn't been interested in him. Not at all, ever. So who did that leave? Lorne? One of Lorne's team? Why was she looking so sad and heartbroken when she left?

He'd slept so many nights in her quarters, it no longer had the lingering smell of her shampoo. He'd first come here the evening after she'd left, he told himself it was to prove she was really gone. That she wasn't coming back. When he'd entered the empty room he'd been shocked, even knowing she had left, he hadn't expected the room to be empty. As if she had never been there. Never touched his life. Never made him feel again. Sometimes he was so angry at her, he was glad she was gone, other times... he felt so alone. It was worse than when he'd lost Melena. At least he felt a little closer to her here though. He had tried to stay away, but found this was the only place he could sleep unless he worked himself into exhaustion and even then sometimes he couldn't sleep anywhere else. Rodney had keyed the door to him so he could come and go as he pleased. Pretty much he'd moved in, anything to feel closer to her…

Staying in Atlantis without any missions, gave him way too much time to think, and he wasn't a thinker.

Why was she so sad? Could she have been lying to him when she told him she wasn't interested? A small smile of hope flitted across his face as he slipped into sleep.

*****

"Good to have you back, Chewey!" Sheppard hit his arm as they were about to go through on their first mission since being cleared... it was a diplomatic mission, but it was off world. It was something.

Grunt, "Finally. Where's McKay" He says aloud.

"Simple mission. He's on staying here, working in his lab- don't worry, he won't get into any trouble without us. Dial her up Chuck! Rodney, be alert, this may not be Pegasus, but it's still not Kansas" John says with a smirk as he walks through the event horizon.

******

"Like old times!" Sheppard says as they are sitting down to eat. The mission had been a success. So boring, but it was off world and a good start for Teyla and Ronon. He eyed the latter. Ronon's tray was ladened with food, but he was only pushing it on his plate, looking around as people came and went from the infirmary. He looked hyper alert, like he was expecting an attack, an ambush...."Relax, they are all ok, Chewey. You okay"

Grunt... push, push, bite, push. Sheppard looks worriedly at his friend and looks over at Teyla. She shrugs her shoulders a fraction and looks worried as well.

"Doesn't feel right... "Ronnon mutters. An itchy feeling between his shoulder blades telling him that something bad is coming…

"What? What do you mean? I know things were a little boring, but this isn't the Pegasus Galaxy...things here aren't so..."

Grunt "that's not it... I don't know what... arrrrahh" he abruptly gets up and leaves the table leaving a shocked Teyla and Sheppard staring at his back.

"What's wrong with the Caveman?" Rodney asks as he sets his tray in the vacated area, already digging into his food.

"Don't know. I really don't know..." Sheppard says, watching Ronon leave the room. "So how're you and Katie?"

*********

Dr. Jennifer Keller, moving back and forth in her lab, looks through a microscope to look at the results of her most recent tests. A feeling of unease creeping down her spine. She knows it's the neurotoxin, but she can't help it, even months later. Ever since she woke up again she's felt like everything is off. Some day's she feels like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, she sees people that were in her dreams the night before... only different. It's like her unconscious mind wants her to see similarities in strangers, make them feel real. She dreams of belonging, being a part of a group. Accepted. Of adventures in another place, another time... another…her. She knows the memories aren't real, but this, her real life is what feels forced, unreal. She smiles to herself... she feels like in her dreams she's Alice in Wonderland. Bunnies that have sharp feral teeth, fauna that's a little shop of horrors kind of place... and a place in a world where she's accepted as she is and has someone that cares about her. Other times she cries because she knows she did something to make it all go away... whatever the neurotoxin did to her, she feels more alive and accepted asleep then awake. The worst part of the dream is, she only remembers bits and pieces and always ends up crying... For some reason it's always with him, only not him. Ronon... only her dream Ronon is bigger, fiercer, leather clad with knives and dreads...which really isn't surprising that occasionally when she has one of _those_ dreams it always stars this Ronon... boy it's obviously been too long since she's gone out.

The Real group of John Sheppard, Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, Evan, and Laura are all quite different from her dreams. They are a close knit group that are friendly, but not inclusive. She's an outsider looking in. Like always. They are real people, in her real world that she's adopted in her fertile imagination. They were all nice enough, but not friend material. If her work wasn't interesting she'd go back to civilian life. Working for Homeland Security with the men an women who infiltrates and disarms terrorists or worse case scenario try to minimize the damage was fascinating and ever changing. Currently, between physicals and "fixing up" her team, she was working on a virus a man simply called "Michael" had created. She was working to recreate the virus so she could create a vaccination for it. Sheppard and his team had only been able to recover partial information from a computer at a recent raid. This was a perplexing virus... ingenious and yet simple... at least what she'd been able to discern so far. Funny enough, this man and his work seemed so familiar.

_2 months earlier_

"Were you able to get the package?" A shadowed figure asks into his video display to his associate. "Does it look like an accident?"

"The package is in route. No one told us she'd been weapons trained, or that she'd know how to fight. We took some damage. It's a done deal, but the 'accident' scenario we developed didn't work anymore. We've currently got someone working on making everything look... normal for now. We'll reformulate how to make her disappear with the others." A tall, balding man speaks on his end of the line. His entire face a blur. The red glow of his cigar in one hand is all that could be seen clearly, his other fisted and white... thinking about the trouble the package had already caused. "Are we sure the file was correct? She looks like a little kid, even as a smart kid... maybe an assistant... not the thinker."

"Don't worry about that. We are correct. The facility has been set up and awaits her delivery. The cover has been already set up as well. Do we need to change anything? This new information shouldn't change her reactions to anything should it? I need to know now, when everything is still salvageable." The man shifted position a little into the light and his contact could see his navy suit and rotund belly. He hated not being able to see who all the associates were, he understood the need for security, but still. He'd had to jump through a lot of hoops while working for the Trust and he hated not knowing who could stab him in the back.

"She'll be told the cover story, the drugs should cloud her memories enough, that everything else is believable. After all the answer is normally the simplest explanation and we're going to give her a simpler, more believable explanation than her reality has been. With enough names, and information (tweaked of course) being the same, her natural lack of self worth, she'll believe everything we want her to." His grin is evil, and if anyone else could see it they would understand that this is a man with no conscience. Just like the Group liked their operatives.

"We'll begin right away."

"Yes sir"


	2. The reason behind the reason

_Today on Atlantis_

"Hey Laura! Laura, wait up." Lt. Evan Lorne jogs to catch up to Laura Cadman as she turns a corner headed towards the cafeteria. "How've you been?"

"Hi Ev. Sorry, been busy. The IOA has been keeping the Dedallus pretty busy. How's the missions this side of the galaxy been?" She asks as she grabs a tray and starts piling food onto her tray.

"Not bad. It's not Pegasus or anything so mostly things follow a normal pattern, unexpected, unplanned, but normal... have you heard anything from Jen lately?" Evan mentions, as he grabs some food himself. As they head to a table he looks at her to try and gauge her face.

"Yeah... but something's up. Lately she seems... happy. She's involved with some pretty boring stuff... I mean the World Health Organization...Really? I thought after she finished up with MI6 she'd be back. You know, hanging with us. But she's happy and distant. Like I'm an acquaintance who doesn't get any details, or won't get her jokes." She tells him as she's pushing her food on her tray.

"I thought so too...she doesn't seem right to me either. She stopped asking about..." he says lifting his brow quickly " and is acting like nothing is wrong. The emails lately haven't been sounding like her."

"Oh my god, it's not just me then? When did you notice?" Laura's eyes widen. She thought something was really off, it had been a while since Jen had responded with any anecdote about Pegasus or even acknowledged anything that was normal for them. She'd thought that she was just trying to put him behind her, but she'd known something else was up.

"It's been a little bit... I was on back to back missions for a while now... I only just opened somewhere around 3 weeks of emails and only the first couple sound right. They've been getting further apart too. I mean she hasn't even written at all in the last month. Does she write anyone else? If anyone can stumble into something... off, it's our girl." Evan looks directly into Laura's eyes an thinks to himself... I missed this.

"Nope. Just us as far as I know. She didn't feel like anyone else would care" She replies... a smirk on her face... knowing that they both knew the error of that assumption. A bad luck magnet, yes. But friendless, no. She was really the heart of their group. Everyone liked her, and trusted her and her judgment calls. They appreciated her willingness to listen and try and help no matter what. Lorne's team knew that no matter what, she had their back and would make sure she did everything medically possible and physically possible to help them. For a minute there the group had expanded to SGA-1, but that had pretty much ended after her... anti-declaration with Ronon. She didn't want to divide his team, so being the caring person she was, she cut herself out of the picture. Out of all their lives it seems now. The transfer to the SGC turned out to be temporary and then, on to some secret government work, and then the IOA loaned her to England and now she'd vollunteered with the World Health Organization. Their girl was running. Further and Further away it seemed. "How's the big guy been anyways? Have you seen him? Or heard anything from John and that group?"

"What was that Cadman?" John smirks from behind Laura, causing her shoulders to jump a little.

"Ronon's been rubbing off on you... make some damn noise man!" She says, a tad sarcastically.

"Have a seat John." Evan offers with a smirk of his own, he'd seen the Colonel walking behind Laura...."Owww!" He says catching her hand as it left his shoulder. "We were just discussing Doc."

"How is she? She enjoying the rain in England?" he smirks again... curiousity in his eyes though. "None of us have heard a thing from her since she left... at first Teyla would get an email or two, but she said it was too hard." he finishes quieter.

"Nononono! Do I have to do everything myself! Don't touch anything! I'll be there as soon as I'm done eating." McKay says as he sits down in a harumph. "They can't do anything here.... I have to retrain everyone again... don't touch anything! You'd think everyone would already know that but no---"

"McKay, we're talking about Jen." Shepard interrupts his tirade... knowing it could be a while otherwise.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so. So how is she? She stopped answering Katie's emails, her feelings are getting hurt." McKay says, uncharacteristically thinking of someone else. "She's worried. Katie said that the last few emails she received sounded a little off, but she's stopped altogether now. You'd think that with as busy life is where she decided to high tail it to, that she could make a little time for her friends every now and again. It's not like Katie's asking for a lot you know."

"Wow-That's the longest I think I've ever heard you talk about someone else in a caring fashion McKay… Go Katie!" Laura says with a smirk and a wink… her eyes though stayed a little serious.

"So we were just saying that Jennifer's emails have been… distant lately. They've switched to a happy tone, but insincere. It's like we're pen pals or strangers." Evan starts to explain as Teyla and Ronon join the group.

"What's a pen pal?" Ronon asks to the table in general as he sits and props his feet up without looking up from his tray. His shoulders and arms are tense even as he looks, bored. He had heard everything, but didn't want anyone to think he was overreacting again.

"A pen pal is someone you write to, but don't necessarily know." Laura explains to Ronon, eyeing him carefully, not missing his covert hyper alertness. "That's a great way to put it Ev. Suddenly everything is sunshine and rainbows, unlike the last 6 months of melancholy and questions about home." She says this and eyes Ronon, trying to gage his reaction… which is like looking at a wall.

Grunt. "What's melancholy, is she sick? Isn't happy good" He mumbles into his tray as he shovels a few bites into his mouth. Unhappy that while he's been just as wrapped up in her as before, maybe even more so, she'd moved on.

"Melancholy is like being depressed or without emotion… kinda like you big guy" Rodney says with a smirk.

Ronon just growls at his teammate. Since he got back with Katie, Rodney had seemed to calm a little… or maybe just knowing he wasn't with Jennifer made him easier to stand. Either way he's ok with the teasing again.

"Ronon feels just like the rest of us, he just doesn't feel like sharing every little symptom or ache… right big guy?" John asks with a smirk of his own.

Grunt.

"Ok, when was the last time anyone saw or heard from the Doc? Should I take this up with Wolsey? And does anyone know why she never came back?" John asks no one in particular, a bad feeling had started creeping up his spine as Evan and Laura explained about their emails.

"No seriously, does anyone know why she left? She's too dangerous to be left on her own." John again mentions, not that everyone else hadn't been thinking the same thing.

Evan and Laura both glanced at Ronon before they started "She didn't feel comfortable-"Laura started

"She left because-" Evan talked over Laura… they looked at each other and shut their mouths.

"If you guys know you need to say something. She may be in trouble… we all think she is already. The longer you hold out, the longer it'll take to find her trail." Ronon says to everyone's shock. That is the longest thing he's said in… months… since she was still apart of the group.

Evan and Laura look at each other. Evan gives Laura a head nod and so she talks for them both, "ok, but not here. There are too many people here. Let's go somewhere private."

They all shuffle to the movie room, everyone is uncomfortable and silent. "I don't know Ev… shouldn't we just skip the why… she deserves to have her privacy" Laura mutters to Evan as they get to the room. Everyone can hear them and wait to hear Evan's reply.

"Laura, we need to give all the information so we can start trying to find her. You said yourself, it's been weeks since she's been herself." He answer is a heated rush. Somehow he knows something isn't right.

Laura sighs, turns her back on everyone and starts, "Minus well get comfy… this is a story I'm about to tell."

Everyone quickly and quietly finds seats. Ronon stays leaning on the wall, tense and waiting hoping to finally have some answers.

"K, Everyone here knows Jenny's sensitive to people, situations, and she tends to try and organize things a little when she can. Well, remember when Jenny got kidnapped by Kirik? Well, afterwards while she was still on duty in the infirmary watching over her patients she told me what happened. I knew it would be a while before she got off her shift so I left her to tease Ronon about losing our girl." She gives a small half smile at the memory… so long ago now… and yet still on everyone's mind. "When I tracked you down I saw you weren't alone. Rodney, you were with him." Her eyes shift to him too now, as does everyone else's in the room. Rodney pales as he knows what she's about to say.

"I was about to tease you both at that point, then I actually listened to what you were saying. You were both agreeing to let Jen decide which of you she was interested in. I was jumping at this news, I couldn't wait to tell Jenny that after a man drought of forever she had two guys interested in her. "

"Ah. It makes more sense now" Teyla says while giving Rodney and Ronon the evil eye. "I am sorry Laura, please continue."

"ok. …

_The evening in question_

" I know something you don't know. I know something you don't know." Cadman sings as she skips around Jennifer as she finishes her rounds and gets ready to finish her rounds.

"I'm sure you know a lot that I don't know. Most of which ends in a boom." Jennifer answers with a smirk.

"I know so much more than that… guess what super spy Cadman found out? Guess, guess, guess." She pretty much begs as Evan walks around the corner to escort the ladies back to Jennifer's room for movie night.

"what do you know? Did you learn that Wylee Coy_ote _should stop buyingfrom ACME" Evan adds with a smirk.

"Hey now, nothing wrong with a big bang!" She argues with Evan

"As long as it goes off as intended and not on you, it's ok." Evan explains like he's talking to a child instead of an explosives expert.

"Some of the great boom moments are done to yourself…"She smiles wickedly at him and he turns a little pink.

"Ok guys… TMI. What do you think you know Laura." Jennifer asks, diffusing the heated looks they are starting to give to each other.

"I know who has a crush on you" Laura sings to the beat of the 80's hit.

Jennifer blushes and looks down… her heart picks up and she hopes its him, even as she knows it couldn't be. 1)He wouldn't be interested 2) She's not his type 3)He's just been nice lately since he feels sorry for her. Ever since they were locked in the infirmary together, he's taken it upon himself to try and include her a little more so she feels a little less like one of the misfit toys. It so isn't his fault he's sexy as hell and she's a normal red blooded female. Where was she again, oh yeah 4) she's just her and he's… him. It would be like trying to touch a star with both feet still on the ground. Not going to happen. She exhales sadly and says the first thing that pops into her mind, "Rodney"

"Hey, how'd you know? Did he try something? Has he said something to you? Spill!" Laura questions and then wheedles.

"Rodney?!?" Evan splutters loudly laughing so hard his ribs ache.

Jennifer sighs again and simply states, "Remember when he came down with that brain parasite? In one of his more coherent thoughts, he told me. It was so sad, and I just wanted to hug him."

"Rodney though?" Evan re-clarifies.

"Well, that's one." Laura says with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"one… but that means there is someone else? …" she glances between the two and shrugs. "Do I know him?"

"Doc, you know everyone, of course you know him… here's a hint… he's your own personal body guard… your own wall o' muscles…. Your own…"She stops trying to think of something else clever.

Jennifer blushes at hearing this and stutters out, "Wh… How do you know? He wouldn't say anything to you." She looks at Laura's face, knowing her friend wouldn't try and hurt her feelings, but also knowing this couldn't be true.

"Come on Jen. Everyone already knows about Ronon. You practically have a sign above your head… hands off. Didn't you ever wonder why the marines that get too forward with you or ask you out get injured pretty quick? Boy has it bad for you." Evan says with a snicker.

"Since when… this is news to me… he's hurting people for talking to me? Why haven't you been injured then Evan? You spend more time with me than anyone else, and you flirt and tease me, and ask me to meals…" Blushing she defends and stutters… her mind already jumping ahead to the holes in their comments.

"Honey, we already had a talk. He knows us… we're like siblings… it's not the same. And if I didn't force you to eat you'd forget and waste away" He says dramatically.

"Whatever. I still don't think it's true."

"Oh, believe it. I overheard them talking in the gym tonight… they both have it bad for you, but willing to let you decide who you want." She says in a snarky voice, playing up her "bitchy" voice, then laughs.

Jennifer can't help but blush. He really likes her? But why? This is so not what she needs…. And Rodney too?!? When it rains it pours. Too bad they didn't have any chemistry, he'd be so much better a choice.

"Sooo, I guess on that note, good night ladies. I can tell that no movie shall be watched tonight and a nail is being laid in one of my fellow man's coffin as we speak." Evan smirks as he saunters to the door. "I can hear it now you girls just want to start jabbering… girl talk that no man is supposed to hear so I'm off… "

They wave him off and Laura grins and looks at Jennifer, still blushing and looking off into space.

"So spill. What really happened between you two? Was it the Quarantine? I knew you weren't telling me the whole story. And what about those goodwill missions He escorted you on! You've been having a secret affair behind your best friends back! Spill" She jokingly pries. "I'm a marine, I know 100's of ways to make you talk… like tickle torture!" She runs at Jennifer who had moved onto the couch, but is now backing into the bedroom.

"Hahahahahah! Ok I'll talk, I'll talk." She yells, catching her breath she starts "I hate you."

"you love me. Now spill."

"Well, we really did just talk in the infirmary, but right before the lights came on and the doors opened we had a… moment. It felt… I know he was going to kiss me… "Blush " it didn't happen though… then he must have decided I was pretty pitiful because he started asking me to meals and movies and stuff. "

"He better not feel sorry for you! You are an amazing woman, and you should know he'd be lucky to have you!"Laura stoutly defended her friend to the imagined wrongs. "I happen to know that it wasn't pity he was feeling though… no guy like Ronon who feels pity for a girl is going to try to date her. I know what I heard and he is seriously into you."

"Yeah right. He's so… y'know… and I'm so…. Well you know. Not" she stutters out.

"Whatever chick. He's interested. So's Rodney. How're you going to break the news to Rodney and when are you going to talk to Ronon? This is so soap opera-y. I love your life!"

"Oh no. I can't tell them how I feel… they rely on each other all the time, their lives often depends on that trust and hesitation could mean one or both of them die." Horrified Jennifer looks at Laura…

"Honey, I think you're over thinking this…"

"No, I can't come between that chemistry, that dichotomy in their team that lets them survive this galaxy… Oh Laura…"

"Honey… It's not that bad… sleep on it. Tomorrow we'll start making plans."

_Present _

"Everything is hunky dory for a few weeks and then suddenly she tells me she told our buff boy over there, " she breaks her concentration to point at Ronon, "she was interested in someone else. She said she had to. She'd almost got you killed and didn't want to have it happen again. Then, suddenly she's on the outs with everyone. You start to avoid her and when that happened she lost John and Teyla-"

"I beg to differ-" Teyla starts.

"Wait just a second here-"John interrupts, dropping his feet from the table they'd been propped on.

"She's right. Continue" Ronon simply states as he is concentrating on what Cadman is revealing at last. His heart is soaring that she really did like him. He wasn't mistaken. They had moments that were real… but he hadn't trusted himself to know this. This is why he'd been aching without her. Why he still dreamed of her. She should already be his. He needs to know the rest though… why she left.

"She lost her friends because she felt that she didn't deserve you. Any of you. She didn't want to get anyone killed. When you stepped back, so did she. She went right back into that shell she created in high school, she tried to keep everyone out."

"I found her crying one night on one of the balconies in the East Pier. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was tired. And she was, but she was also lonely. It was all we could do after that to get her to leave the infirmary for food or anything. After we got back here… to Earth she seemed better at first. Seems she had a plan. Being back here meant you were all safer and she could leave you alone. She could finally let you find some peace you couldn't find with her constantly underfoot." Lorne finishes for Laura. "She immediately started working on Woolsey and the IOA to get transferred somewhere, anywhere else. That's how she got moved to the SGC, then I think it was onto Massachussettes for some IOA thing, then something top secret for a bit, then to the Brits… and now… now she say she's with WHO."

"WHO? What's that?" Teyla inquires quietly.

"The World Health Organization… they travel all over the planet helping out with outbreaks of disease. She could be anywhere… but the thing is she volunteered with WHO as a post-grad and she hated it. There's no way she would have ever signed back up for it, I thought maybe I was wrong, but now..." Laura says with vehemence. She knows her Jennifer is out there in trouble.


	3. Take the red pill, and follow the rabbit

"Doc, please tell me you've been able to discern what Micheal's virus is. We need that vaccine yesterday!" John says in an impatient voice as he strolls through her lab. His spiky brown hair poking in all directions.

"Yeah, you've been working on this for month's now. If you'd just step it up we'd be able to make a move against him again. At this rate we'll grow old and die before you come up with anything! Bah, he'll use that crap on us the minute we try and move in on him!" McKay whined loudly. "I'm not risking my neck when who know's what this crap does? It could do so much worse than kill us... maybe make me into a bumbling idiot like caveman over there." He snidely added, smirking and tilting his head.

Grunt, "Why you gotta be mean?" Ronon says in a low undertone as he leers at Dr. Keller. "Besides, I bet this is another flesh eating virus... maybe airborne..." he teases McKay hoping to make him squirm.

"Guys, I can only do so much. Go, go, I'll let you know when I know more." She shoo's them out of her lab.

Silently, she goes over in her head why everything in that conversation seemed wrong. Again it came down to her dreams. Now though, after so long, she'd begun to realize maybe her dreams aren't so far off... okay not the one's about these people anyways. Well, the non erotic one's any ways. At some point over the months she had stopped only having nightmares and waking up shaking and sad and started waking up shaking for other reasons. The "real" people she interacted with, Sheppard, Teyla, McKay and Ronon often said things that sounded almost right, but they were snarky or mean. They seemed to sometimes dislike each other or be uncomfortable, and that didn't feel right at all. Ronon at first seemed to hate her and now was eyeing her like a creepy perve. This didn't seem right either... When she finally made that leap she realized that everything felt wrong.

The "medicine" was easy enough to break down and figure out, that had taken less than an hour. Pretending to still take it was a little harder, once she'd found the camera's it had become easier though. And Michael's virus... she now realized why it was so familiar and what these people wanted from her. They wanted to produce the virus. Probably as a biological weapon, but they couldn't figure it out without her. There had to be a leak somewhere if even this much of her notes had leaked to this group... yes, they were her own notes on Michael's virus, and they really were incomplete. Which is why it took a little while for her to fully understand.

The SGC and the IOA were going to get an earful if only she could figure out how to escape. It had been two and a half months now and she hadn't been given any time off since she awoke. Who ever the people who had her were, they'd kept her moving and working on various projects, never allowing her to leave the confines of whatever building they put her in. She'd had to bandage up people and do some emergency operations as she'd expect, but they'd also kept her moving. Probably to keep up the pretense of following the terrorist leads, but as she thought of it, maybe also to keep the SGC off their trail... if anyone was even looking for her. Who knew if anyone was even looking for her... she'd been running so long before they even took her. Would anyone even notice her gone? Would anyone care? Of course they would, at least Laura and Evan would, she thought as she shook her head. If only she'd stayed on base... heck if she was going to play that game, if only she'd stayed on Atlantis. She really should have talked to Ronon, told him the truth. If only things hadn't been so difficult, she never would have thought she'd lose his friendship. That had been the hardest thing to let go of, but once she'd realized the irrivocable damage she'd done to their relationship she'd known she had to leave. She now knew she shouldn't have given up so easily and run away. The longer she thought about it, mostly at night, the more she realized how much she hurt him and how much he must really care to extend so much energy not seeing or talking to her. That was one of the main reasons she even realized she was being drugged... she had known Ronon wasn't right.

Enough about that though, she had to figure a way out. She had to help herself, she couldn't count on anyone else rescuing her. They may not even know she's gone. If they do, they definitely won't know where she is, since she didn't even know that. Hmmm, a plan was necessary... preparations.... luckily her best friends were demolition experts and a military planner... boy maybe one day they'd be impressed she really did listen to them. First things first though... she needed to give her people a lead, so when they did begin looking (if they hadn't already) that they'd find some sort of bread crumbs.

Hmmmm. They wanted a virus... she had the lab...hmmmm

*******

"It's been two weeks, what do you mean you don't know where else to look? Why don't we keep track of the people we loan out?" Exasperated John swept his hand through his already disheveled hair, as he faced Woolsey from accross the briefing room table on Atlantis. "We don't even know how long she's been gone!"

"Exactly! We've discovered.... some discrepancies in the trail she's left, but then it disappears. She all but vanished two and a half months ago, but from what we can tell, someone else who fits her general description continued on in her place for another two weeks before she two vanished. We have teams looking through her flat in London, but its been rented since she's been gone. We don't think there's much hope in finding a lead there." Woolsey states matter a factly as he looks around the room at the worried faces of the men and women who brought this problem to him. His eyes showed his weariness as he continued, "we've heard some chatter about a new virus that sounds like it might be from pegasus, but so far they have only been vague rumors. Our people at homeland security feel that it isn't viable yet, since the chatter hasn't picked up much about it."

"Do we even know who might have taken her?"Rodney asks as he looks up from his computer. He's been running scenerio's trying to help figure out why she was taken. "Hmmmm, a virus... maybe one of the one's Jennifer was working on before? I can see why they'd want that information.... hmmm she'd never give it up though... too many people would die" Rodney mutters as his mind quickly assimulates the new information Woolsey has given them. "Aha. If they, whoever they are, need Jennifer for boi research into a Pegasus virus, they'll need certain things... we can start trying to track down... Zalenka?!? I need you to get-" Rodney has already wander up and over to the doors.

"I take it you have an idea McKay?" Woolsey droley asks.

"Yes, yes, let me get back to you. We genius' have to work"

"What can we do Rodney?" Cadman speaks up from across the room. Her face lit up with hope for the first time in exactly three weeks.

"Nothing." He immediately responds as his mind begins to twirl up in different possibilities. "Well, if someone could stop by the cafeteria I could use a bite."

"Really?!? Food?" John asks with a smirk.

"Genius's need a lot of fuel, and I'm the smartest man in two galaxies... I burn a lot of calories thinking." Rodney says with a smirk, already turning to leave.

Grunt "I'll get it" Ronon says as he shoves away from the wall. He had been silent, hoping to hear something different. Something that would mean they could finally leave and begin the search in earnest. At least getting Rodney something to eat would give him something to do. Not that he'd been idle in the last two weeks. No, him and the team had been on missions almost non stop. Yes, this was the Milky Way, but somehow they still managed to get into a lot of trouble. They'd had a day off in San Fransco a few days ago, but no one felt much like exploring. Their missing member too much on everyone's mind.

He couldn't believe how quickly everything shifted in his mind. Once the explanations had come tumbling out Ronon had stopped being restless in his soul. He was still restless and worried, but now everything made sense. He hadn't misread anything with Jen, he hadn't been wrong. His feelings were returned, at least they had been then. He wasn't so sure about now... not since everything happened (or didn't happen) since that day and now with her being gone... It also made his decision to sleep in her rooms easier to bear. Before he would drag himself there exhausted, to finally fall asleep, now that is where he wanted to be. He felt closer to her. When he wasn't imagining the nightmare she must be living, he was dreaming about what he'd do to her once they found her.

He dreamt of that a lot. He'd been having recurring erotic dreams of taking her as his mate and her accepting him. He'd wake up drenched in sweat and shaking. A few times he dreamt of children... but those he didn't like to think too much on... first he needed to find her and set things right. He needed to let her know how much she meant to him.


	4. Proof of life

He had said the words, she had repeated them. Their bodies glistened with oils and sweat as he moved them to the next stage in this ritual. His big dark hands glided over her body and he set about worshiping her in the ways of his people… in the ways to make them one forever, mates of body and soul. He slowly moves down her body again, kissing and tasting as he goes, he can feel her writhing in his hands, small keening cries in her throat... whimpers.

Bleep, bleep. A hand stumbles out from beneath fur blankets. Stumbles then finds his ear piece before it disappears again under the blankets.

"Good morning Big Guy." John's overly enthusiastic and slightly sarcastic voice came over the communicator as Ronon placed it over his ear. A grunt was John's only response, he figured the big guy would already be up… oh well no time like the present. "I got news, meet me in the briefing room in 15 minutes." He smiles as another grunt is his only response. He'll take that as an affirmative. It had taken a minute, but between Rodney, Radek and a few well placed friends, they finally had a lead.

Hmmm, good dream, Ronon thought as he rolled out of bed to a painful erection. He wanted so badly for it to be true, he'd known, even as he was in the midst of it, that it wasn't anymore than another dream. He knew because he'd had the exact same dream, over an over, never completing for months… hell, for over a year. Well, aspect were different, he thought with a smile. The mating ritual dream hadn't started up until he'd learned the truth a few weeks ago, before that it was straight mating… different ways, different places, always her though. Well, 5 of the 15 minutes were already gone, he'd need to take a quick, cold shower. He rolled out of the small bed and stretched, the sun kissing his shoulders and torso as he made his way into the bathroom.

**************

"So what couldn't wait until a decent hour? I know not everyone needs sleep, but I most assuredly do. Do you have any idea-"Rodney starts up grumpily, he hated mornings, especially one's that took him away from Katie.

"We found her." John states simply, interrupting Rodney's ramble.

"Jennifer? Are you positive?" Teyla asks sitting straighter. She looks surprised, but ready to act.

"What are we waiting for, let's go then," Ronon says, already standing

"Well, I may have overstated. I think we know who took her and why. Actually finding her physically will take a little more." John sheepishly admits, knowing he'd worded it badly.

"Well, spill. Who's ass do I need to kick to get information?" This of course from Cadman, always ready to jump in.

"Oh, why it's our friendly neighborhood Trust people. With Rodney's help we discovered some files had been downloaded from here relating to some viruses she had been working on of Michael's. They were incomplete and whoever did it didn't know computers, because he left fingerprints all over the place."

"Oh, he had an idea. The fingerprints were microscopic and he put them all over the place to try and throw me off. But I'm narrowing it down." Rodney mutters, almost as an aside, a personal affront and challenge.

"Anyways- with this new news, and the chatter about the virus, we had the SGC look into hot spots with chemicals and lab equipment… they've discovered two labs-before anyone interrupts-"John says, hands up glaring at Rodney, then Laura, "both were destroyed when our guys triggered a booby trap when they were found. We've uncovered some data that looks and sounds like Jennifer on some research they had her working on. One of the labs was only recently abandoned. Everything looked state of the art and very military. We've managed to get a few clips from a computer...watch." John points to the screen with a remote.

The screen suddenly flickers to life…a familiar woman is seen moving between a microscope, some vials and a computer screen. The camera angle is high, so only the occasional quick view of her face is seen, but she looks busy. A man comes in, his hair style looks creepily familiar.

"Hey Doc. I just saw Marie, she told me to give you your meds… said you were out." The man smirks at her, his hand holding a bottle of little pills. He looks over her and what she's working on.

"Thanks Sheppard. I was about to stop and get a refill myself." She says with a tight smile. She glances at the camera, a small furtive glance that Ronon immediately catches, "Did you need anything else?"

"Nope. Just don't forget to take those things. I remember how bad you were without them. Don't you forget how confusing things were, we need your mind in the game. We need to figure out what this virus does, and how to counteract it before Michael uses it. Besides, who else is going to stitch us up? What would Ronon do without your steady hand?" He asks with a smirk.

Blush, "I won't forget. I'm sure you're busy," she hastens him out of the lab. She takes another small look at the camera, grabs a bottle of water, opens the bottle and shakes out two pills. She quickly gulps them down in plain view of the camera, then moves away to her vials and microscope. She seems to realize she's still holding the bottle, like she forgot it was in her hands, a typical Dr. Keller move. She quickly finishes most of the water then throws the bottle away. Another quick glance and the tape snows out.

"We're still trying to recover more footage, and trying to clean up what we do have… So we know she was okay a few days ago. We aren't quite sure what the pills are, but we have a pretty good idea that this is why she's working with them." John says to the room. "Sorry Chewey, we have to assumes she's been compromised. She's an important part of our expedition, and is a part of the senior staff here. This has become priority one to the SGC and IOA. So far this is the third time someone has seen this footage. We're trying to keep everything on the down low, to keep the Trust unaware we're on to them… obviously we've been breached."

"She's not compromised." Ronon simply states. "Rewind…. Pause." He lets everyone see her looking at the camera. " fast… pause, again pause… now watch her toss the water bottle…" Sure enough in slow motion everyone watches Jennifer put the pills in her mouth, drink one gulp, then later as she finishes off the water she back washes into the bottle. After she tosses the bottle she glances again at the camera… almost guiltily.

"My god, she's not compromised… she knows… "Woolsey scratches his head. "So why hasn't she tried to get us a message, Colonel- or tried to escape?"

"We don't know that she hasn't-"

"Guys… I think she's working on something." Laura was right up to the screen now, looking at a paused screen on the vials she's working with. "See those vials? Earlier, there were more vials… I think she's working on something with them… That's my girl!" Laura says with a smirk. "Make 'em think you're innocent little you, easily manipulated… while making a plan… Evan I think we're rubbing off on our girl!"

"We don't know anything for a fact. Those looks," with a quick glance in Ronon's direction, Woolsey continued, trying to be the voice of reason as he knows he is supposed to be, "could just be chance or happenstance. And the getting rid of the pills, we don't know that is what she did."

"Woolsey… we all can clearly see-she is working on something. She knows she's being watched. She knows the pills aren't good for her. She is trying her best on her own. We don't even know how long she's been there." John says angrily. "You saw the other me… she even called him Sheppard. They talked about Ronon. The Trust went to a lot of trouble to make her feel comfortable… even the lab looks a bit familiar… doesn't it? They maybe tried to brainwash her…"arms sweeping towards the screen he forcefully tries to get Woolsey to see what he sees.

"Hmmm, people that look like us, probably act like us. Locations that look a little like here… Medication… Radek needs to see this… "Rodney thinks aloud.

"Great idea! He may know what's going on more…why?" Laura jumps on the band wagon before teetering off.

"Radek used to work for more… interesting people before the iron curtain fell. KGB I think. He has different ideas and knowledge than the rest of us on this sort of thing." Rodney states like everyone should know this.

"Who are the KGB" Teyla inquires.

"Russian versions of the Bola Kai." Rodney sums up for her in Pegasus terms.

Ronon is still staring at the screen, looking at the frozen image of Jennifer. The first real sign she's okay in weeks, his first glimpse of her in months. He knows she's worried, can see her fear. He feels in his gut, somehow he should have been there, protecting her, keeping her from these people. Instead he'd driven her off, made her easy prey, an easy target. He smiles a small smile.

Seeing this slight change in the Big Guys face, John asks, "What are you smiling at, Chewey? What are you noticing that we missed, I don't see any really good news." Curiously, everyone turns to the Sadaten.

"They leave her alone with chemicals and vials. They watch her, but not too closely. They trust she's taking her pills. They obviously don't know that Doc is the worse patient ever, that her best friend is an explosives expert, and she's been working with a hypochondriac that needs to know everything he's given. She has had hand to hand training in many easily substituted weapons, can hide her own reactions really well when necessary, and her other friends are all strategic military thinkers. I bet she's making something that'll go boom, before she kicks their butt. Hopefully in an area that she can escape from, since she'll only be able to surprise them like this once." A full grin now, "Pegasus was a great training ground for her."

Everyone see's his point. The first smiles light everyone's faces since they discovered her gone, some for even longer.

"No one can get into a pickle faster than her, but we've all been teaching her how to handle herself. I just wish she'd had my team with her for this one too. Good thing the bets were called off a month ago… no one would have guessed this!" Evan says, smiling broadly, "That's my girl."

Ronon just grunts at this… he knows that Evan is just her friend and that she's his girl. Or will be soon.


	5. A glimpse in the shadows

"I'm a little disappointed Calvin. Your last report was a bit...brief. It lacked certain... details I and my colleagues are eager to hear. How is the good Doctor fairing?" The shadowed figure asks again into his desktop. He was anxious for this little girl to prove she has been worth all the energy and cost expended thus far. If they could get even a single viable sample of the virus out of the lab it would make it all worth while. He didn't want this to be more than a last line of defense against the alien hoards that seemed to be growing every day. According to the information they had scabbed together, this virus of Micheal's was a killer. It was a horrible, relatively quick and highly painful death to most who come into contact with it not from earth. Dr. Keller had speculated that the virus was a close enough cousin to the chicken pox, or some other relatively safe and common virus, that we weren't susceptible. So this was a great equalizer against anyone not from earth. A single sample could be the difference between the annihilation of the Earth as we know it and a G'ould, Ori, heck maybe even a Wraith invasion. What he did was for the good of mankind, those cowboys at the SGC and SGA were reckless with not only their lives, but the lives of the billions of people on our own home planet. If only they had left the star gate alone, a rather large paperweight filling a space in the tomes of Area 51. Because of the cavalier attitude that seemed prevalent even with the IOA the men who had formed the Trust had no choice, what the others viewed as treason today would prove one day, probably soon, to be heroic and showing forethought. If only this plan didn't center on this one little girl. True she was a genius and had been the one to crack the code before and come up with a vaccine for the people of the Pegasus Galaxy, but now she was only operating at partial speed. The medications they'd been forced to give her created a cloud over her memories, so she had to redo all her work... and they had no idea how long it had taken her to make the initial break through.

"She's making slow progress, but she seems to be moving forward. I've told the everyone she's interacting with to keep up the pressure, she needs to believe that the attack is imminent. They'll be moving again soon, the SGC moved in already on the lab we just vacated, its a good thing we learned about it in time. The safety precautions were very thorough, every hard drive was wiped before a system wide collapse destroyed the facility. They have no idea what we've been doing or who else was in there, but in light of this we're thinking of setting up the next lab in the Midwest. Somewhere small town, so we can keep an eye on her and let a few of her "team" move to other missions...maybe an undercover infiltration of an alcida cell. That should explain their absence and give us more credence to the good doctor. The time table has been moved up on another experiment and I'll need 'Cadman, Lorne, Teyla and Sheppard' for a little while, maybe a couple of weeks. A little quite time in a town that's all ours should be fine for the good doctor. Gives us a little while to work on other projects while she concentrates on her 'project.' She'll be able to leave the lab this way too. I don't want her to become suspicious since she's been locked in a room for the last few months." Calvin told the older man in a slow voice. The cadence low and even, to lull the other man. Calvin had gotten into the organization and stayed under the boards radar as a whole, by leading a few of those idiots into thinking things were their ideas. He did the research, he did the groundwork even, before he ever mentioned a word to any of his contacts. He didn't like surprises and he didn't like aliens, so this position was perfect for him. He got to operate from the background, acting as the middle man between the upper echelon of the Trust and the lackeys, the grunts and the foot soldiers, he was a dispenser of knowledge and an enact er of plans. The fact he could be down right scary in his intensity and fervor didn't hurt. This project was his baby. As soon as he'd discovered the Doctors notes, he'd known he had a gold mine. Once he'd seen her picture and read her file he knew he had to have her. No other scientist would do. It had just taken a little bit of patience and the right whispered words into the right ears. By the time he was done, he'd convinced no less than three board members that this was their idea and to sign off on the budget. Through his research he couldn't understand how so many brilliant minds worked tirelessly in the Pegasus Galaxy with those... aliens. It had galled him to include a Teyla and a Ronon on this plan, but in this project they weren't aliens. Still it made his skin crawl, the idea of those... things, working in such proximity to Jennifer (that's how he thought of her now, after watching tirelessly from the security camera's he felt closer to this young girl than to anyone else in his life) and Dr. McKay-the two most brilliant minds in that expedition.

"Wonderful. Keep us informed of any new developments. Calvin, don't fail us. We'll be watching."

The computer screen immediately blacked out as the other man disengaged the line. Calvin sat back in his office chair, steeping his fingers as he thought of the doctor in question. The latest move for Jennifer... her newest lab, had been his first direct contact. She'd scolded him lightly that day for handling her vials and computers too roughly. They'd talked briefly, and she'd flirted a little with him, he'd been surprised by this, flattered even. He didn't even mind her scolding him, no one had done that since... well since he'd taken care of all of those people who thought they could. It had been a long time since anyone had bothered being _nice_. Maybe he should go check on her... offer her some coffee or food. She'd hardly eaten anything earlier. He swiveled around back to his computer screen and tapped on the keyboard in quick succession... the screen came to life then. The lab's over head lights were off, only the emergency lights illuminating the room. She always seemed to know when he was watching... he'd first noticed it about a month ago. At first it seemed like random glances at the security cameras, but as they'd moved locations, and even before he'd begun to think of her as knowing. Knowing he was there... watching her. Almost like a conversation without words... no one else ever noticed because when she looked at the camera it was always for seconds... sometimes even less time, but there was an... awareness, a knowing. A few more taps and the screen changed... now it was her quarters. Not as roomy as the Atlantis quarters, but better than the SGC's. The small farm he was going to move her to would have a better facility, a better room. He'd made sure of it. Lately it seemed her nightmares had ceased. She still thrashed around a little at night, but she seemed to be settling into the reality they'd created for her quite nicely. Just watching her sleep was soothing to him, it made him calmer, less volatile. The new environment would give him an opportunity to get to know Jennifer better, talk to her. Touch her. He'd be her... guard... her protector. Yes, this new location should work out well.

******************

He kissed her eyelids, her cheek, her ear before dragging his mouth back to her lips. She moaned and thrashed against him as he held her arms above her head in one hand and the other caressed her breasts through her tank top. She bit his lip as he drew his lips away from her again, kissing a trail down her neck to stop at the top of the neckline of the top. He drops her hands as he rips her top off to get to what is beneath... a hungry mouth latching on to one nipple as the other kneads the left breast, playing with the hard tip.

"Ahhh.... please.... " She whimpers to him, asking for release... or relief from this sensation, she's not sure which just yet. Her arms circle his head, holding him in place, his rough beard adding a deliciously rough tickle. His thigh is between her legs, causing a sweet friction she can't get enough of or get away from. She arches her back as he switches his attention to the other nipple, riding his thigh harder, faster. He growls at this, low in his throat, causing her to clench down and cum, soaking his thigh. She doesn't even have the ability to be embarrassed yet, she's moaning from the shear ecstasy, and he hasn't even removed her boxers yet.

His hands, industrious little things that they are, have taken a knife from somewhere on his body and he's now cutting off her boxers and panties, a gleam of mischief in his green eyes, a smirk on his lips. She shivers and smiles back at him. She lifts her heavy arms around his neck-

And then she wakes suddenly. Damn... another dream. It never fails... she finally has a good dream and bam... she wakes up before she gets to anything too good. She slams her head back into the pillows a few times, lays on her side. A growl of frustion slips out before a familiar tingle goes down her spine... someone is watching her. She'd been getting the feeling someone was watching for a little while now, she glanced at the camera through her lashes, pertending to adjust herself as she was resettling into sleep. Sure enough, there was another camera. Perves. Good thing they couldn't see into her dreams! Best to pretend to sleep, maybe, if she were lucky they'd get bored and she'd be able to sleep again soon. Yeah right, like that would happen. The last time she'd woken up to this feeling, it had been hours before the feeling went away. Hopefully she wasn't becoming paranoid, Jen thought to herself, as she tried to concentrate on her dream. At least they wouldn't try and take that from her too.


	6. Surprise, another prison

"Where's McKay?" John asks to the gate room loudly .

Grunt, "He's coming" Ronon responds, knowing, as does John, McKay is always last, especially if he's working on something. He doesn't mind either considering McKay has been working on finding Jen.

"Well, he should be here... we said 0800, not 0845." John rolls his eyes...knowing Rodney would have a reason.

"I'm here. I'm here. Let's get this party rolling!" Rodney strolls in, face down, looking at something on his tablet, moving past his team, up the ramp. "Well.." he glances up in exasperation."I thought this was an important mission. This world is open to trade with us and they mine naquaduh and have been able to use it. A modern civilization... amazing."

"Dial her up Chuck. Speaking of modern, ever here of a watch? I said 08:00." Sigh, "Move out!" John says as they walk through the gate, a smirk firmly in place, shaking his head at his friend.

****************

"What happened to the welcome committee?" Rodney asks no one in particular, "I thought we were getting a ride, not having to hike 20 miles. I'm hungry, can we break for food?" he whines.

"First, yes we were expecting a ride, but a little walking never hurt anyone Rodney, its called exercise. And it isn't 20 miles, more like 10. Secondly, we just got here. Didn't you eat breakfast?" John replies in that older brother-y way he has.

"I'll have you know I'm hyperglycemic. I need to eat more often than the rest of you! You know this could kill me!"

"Hm, wonder what happened here." Ronon says as he points to an area of trampled grass to the side of the road. It looked like someone had been laying there... P-90 shells lay twinkling in the sun.

"Did anyone report-"Teyla began only to be interrupted.

"No. There was no report of hostiles here, the other teams all stated in their reports very specifically, this is a friendly planet. They are open to trading with us," Rodney adds as he stands near John... rechecking his tablet for any new data on this planet.

"Yeah, friendly. Guys..." Ronon mutters not quite under his breath as he slowly stands, his hands up and nudging John.

"Oh, oh. Hey guys, SGA... from Earth. Friends?!?" John says in surprise. As he looks up to see a suited military platoon surrounding them, guns drawn. "Can we talk about this?"

"Uh, we aren't even in the Pegasus Galaxy and this still happens to us. Ugh, unfair." Rodney whines to himself, arms now raised.

"We would like to speak to Tarik. He is expecting us and would not like to hear that we are being delayed." Teyla loudly announces, hoping to gain the attention of someone in charge.

"What have you done with Brandon? Where is he?" A tall blond giant says from the front of the men.

"Where is who? Is anyone else tired of these situations? It seems like every other plant we go to we end up at the wrong end of someone else's guns. As I'm sure you already know, we only just got here. You know, through the big round gate in the field back there... at the end of this road here." McKay says snarkily to the men surrounding them.

"Not helping Rodney," John says from the side of his mouth, before pasting on a smile and saying to the man who had spoken, "We're from Earth, we had a meeting with-"

At a slight nod from the blond man, four quick bursts shot out from the soldiers and down fell three of the companions, a fifth and sixth shot out at Ronon who just glared at the men before he fell as well. His hand on his gun.

*******

It was a familiar scene to the group as one by one, they woke up, behind bars in a prison cell.

"Does anyone else think that this is getting a little old? New, supposed safe world, we get surrounded, stunned, and put in prison... and they haven't even fed us." Rodney is whining, again. Just like the last time they were in this predicament.

"Has anyone told you, we've already heard this? You always say that when we wake up. Try some new material man." John says with a groan. The stunning wouldn't be so bad if they didn't bring on such awful headaches afterwards, "Everyone okay?" John asks the room at large, his eyes still shut.

"I am quite well... considering. I do however agree with Rodney, this is getting... old," she says, a grin can be heard in her voice, despite the circumstances.

Ronon simply grunts from his position, leaning against the wall, looking out the window. They are far up in the building, too far to jump, he notices. Strategically this wasn't a bad decision on these people's parts. It much harder to escape from... at least 4 stories up than ground level. They should know, they've escaped from probably every type of prison imaginable. The lock was pickable, but everyone had to be awake and ready for it... at least now everyone was awake.

"Did anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?" John is still on the floor, eyes shut. He's trying to think why these people might think they knew where someone named Brandon was.

"Cl. Sheppard, someone is coming." Teyla whispers as Ronon has already taken a position directly in front of the cell door. John immediately rolls to his feet and is on Ronon's right side. McKay is the only one still sitting, a little oblivious in his mental tirade of all the ills that befall them.

"I will ask again. Where is Brandon?" The blond man from earlier asks without preamble. "Are you here to make your demands known?"

"The only demands I can think of is being let out of here, oh, and maybe some food for that guy, over there." Johns says in a deceptively mild manner, pointing at McKay.

"Ah, so you admit you know who Brandon is? Where is he?" The blond smirks at this, thinking he's caught them in their lies and now he'll get the truth.

"I never said that-"John says, a little frustrated and a lot annoyed at this man.

"Could we not speak to Tarik? I believe she was expecting us." Teyla diplomatically adds, hoping to get things resolved quickly.

"You will not be seeing anyone until I have decreed it alright. Where is Brandon, and do not lie. I saw you," he points to McKay, "kidnap him not five hours ago."

"Me?!? Kidnap someone? I have never kidnapped anyone in my life, I may have en rapped, mesmerized or led people places but never kidnapped!" McKay says indignantly, his eyes looking at his team as they tried to cover their laughs and smiles at his statement.

"I saw you kidnap Brandon and take him through the ring of the ancestors. I saw you, with the dreads, killing my men to clear the way and you, with the spikey hair leading the others. I suppose the smaller figure was you." he finishes looking at last at Teyla.

"You couldn't have seen us, this is our first visit here. And seeing as how this is how we're treated, I'm tempted to take your address off our mailing list." John replies sarcastically. Rodney smirks at this and, and as is often the case when John or Rodney make an earth analogy they didn't understand, Teyla and Ronon ignore them.

"Oh, please do, after you return Brandon-"

"Why wasn't I informed of the off worlder's capture? Why haven't you informed anyone that they are awake?" An older man breezes in and talks to the blond, then, before his questions can be answered, he immediately does a quarter turn and looks at the prisoners. "Greetings. I'm Tarik and I offer our most sincere apology for the... inconvenience. Earlier today we had an unfortunate... incident which has left us... out of sorts."

"Inconvenience... incident...hmmmm, so I take it you realize we aren't who he thinks we are?" John clarifies.

"Well, yes. If I had but been informed," hard stare,"I could have made your welcome a little less... unfortunate. As it is, at least I was informed before the torture had begun," hard stare. "You see we have just had our leader-"

"That would be Brandon?" John can't help but add with a smirk.

"Yes, yes, Brandon, has just been kidnapped by others from Terra. Our men had already been watching the road, hoping to ambush the others when they return. When I saw the footage of you four being brought in-"hard stare, "we knew you weren't the same group."

"I'm sure this is a fascinating story, but can we hear it after we are released?" John asks the elder, a small smirk on his face.

"And fed-" a hopeful Rodney asks, his stomach foremost on his mind now that death and torture were no longer on the table.

"Oh, of course. Please forgive me again, like I said, awful, unfortunate day, everyone is out of sorts-Of course we shall release you post haste. Stephen!" And without further ado the door swung open and Tarik smiled at them.

"Okay... this should be interesting." John mutters aloud, "We'll also need to communicate with our base, our people will be waiting for us to check in-"hard stare from the still suspicious Stephen, "which only one of us needs to do and you can accompany us." John finishes.

"That is acceptable, Stephen, you will accompany-"

"Colonel Sheppard, Sir. Dr. Rodney McKay, Specialist Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmigen." John introduces everyone to the smiling elder and not so smiling blond man.

"Ah yes, Colonel, we were expecting you and your people. I am Tarik, and this is Stephen, Captain of the guard. Stephen you you will accompany Colonel Sheppard while I see to finding the rest of you food and lodging." At the startled looks he received he continued, "I'm afraid it may take a little while to fully clear this up."


	7. A new lead!

"So let me get this straight. Your leaders are chosen based on reincarnation?!? Because of some false memories that you believe is someone you used to know you chose a child born at the moment of your old leaders death? This is asinine." Rodney says in a huff to the room at large, completely flabbergast that the person they thought he'd kidnapped was a 9 year old child, also the leader of a civilization that has learned to harness the power of naquaduh to create a modern energy system.

"Rodney, after hearing everything, the part you can't believe is the leaders age?" John asks in exasperation. "Of course that's the part you latch onto you just can't leave an organized religion alone can you?"

"Colonel, it isn't a religion per say, more of a means of deciding leadership." Teyla interrupts before the two men start arguing in front of Tarik and the other advisors.

"As a recap,"John says, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose "you guys ran across a group that looked and acted like us earlier today, but who weren't us," he cracked an eye to look at Stephen who was looking back at him from across the table, obviously still not fully convinced. "And they came here, shook some hands, played nicely for a few hours, pretended to be debating trade agreements. Then after getting a lay of the land they kidnapped your leader, and left in a hurry. Shortly after, we stroll through the gate, get stunned and imprisoned. While we're there a message comes back to you people, "he points in the general direction of the advisors, "demanding quantities of Naquaduh for the safe return of your leader... Brandon. At which point you realized that we, were not your guys? That about cover it?"

"As a fairly brief and detail sparce summary, I would say that you are accurate," an woman they'd been introduced to as Enid, replied.

"Umm, Sheppard?" Ronon looks at Sheppard and quietly says, "Did you notice that the other group had people that looked just like us? Probably military trained, and able to move through the gate. Didn't you tell us that SGC has run accross possible links to the Trust on a few off world missions? I think that we've found the people that have taken Dr. Keller."

"I'm going to need to talk to our people in light of all this new information. When will you have to respond to your kidnappers?" John looks inquiringly at Tarik.

"We have the rest of the day to discuss their demands. Tomorrow at noon we'll have to have our reply."

"Great, that gives us plenty of time to make a plan. McKay-"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, my mind is still in knots over Caveman adding the pieces together so quickly. I hadn't even made any of these leaps yet, not that I wouldn't have, just my mind was on more urgent recent events-"

"McKay! Concentrate. And we always tell you, the Big Guy understands more than you give him credit for." John says with a smirk.

Ronon grunts and smirks at McKay.

"What, I said I would have made the same conclusions... but with all the other things-"

"McKay-"

"On it. I'm going to try and recalibrate some of the machines here to trace the call, as it were, back to the kidnappers. I think we can at least get a fix on where their gate is." Rodney is punching keys on his tablet as he thinks

"How long?"

"Maybe 4 hours."

"You have 2."

"But we have all night-" Rodney whines, looking up at Sheppard who's getting ready to leave again to the gate.

"You have 2 hours because we have to test it and I have some other ideas on other things I need you to do."

Sigh. "I can try for 2"

"You have 2 hours McKay!" Sheppard says as he leaves the room. After a few seconds he comes back in, "Well Stephen... aren't you coming?"

"We thank you for your help Colonel Sheppard, but we really can't expect you to go to so much trouble to help us especially after your welcome-" Tarik starts to reply when Teyla interrupts him.

"Sir, it is what we do. We try to help all those in need. In this particular case though, we believe that those that took your leader also took a member of our team. We do not leave our members behind, so this is also personal. Even if these people do not turn out to be the one's we are looking for, we would be honored if you allowed us to help you rescue...Brandon."

"Well, of course, if you are sure you would like to. We'd be honored to accept your offer of help." A pleased smile lit Tarik's face at this entreaty from Teyla.

"Stephen... coming?" John asks with a smirk as he stolls out again.

*****************


	8. Meanwhile, back on the farm

"So, explain to me again, Colonel... why do we think that this kidnapping is related to Dr. Keller's disappearance, again? I thought we agreed that the Trust took her? Since when do they have access to a gate?" Woolsey asks Sheppard.

"Sir, I know its a little far fetched, and I know we haven't fleshed out the whole thing, but really, how often do we run into doubles of us? We already know that the Trust has infiltrated at least Atlantis if not the SGC. I remember reading the mission report for the black op's thing SG-1 ran into a few years ago. Basically I don't know, but everything else is too coincidental to not be related. I know that this is a stretch, but we're not going to sit this one out. Who ever it is, we're going to get to the bottom of this. If we're lucky, we get Doc back, if not, well, hopefully we've made our new allies happy. It could be win-win. Even if I didn't think this related to Dr. Keller, this is just the type of thing that we do. We're helping, just think, you could be credited with helping Earth get a new supplier of Naquaduh." Exasperated John talks into his communicator, finishing on a high note... the carrot for Woolsey's stick. He hated having to explain things that didn't make complete sense, but that his gut said was correct. Especially to Woolsey and others like him. People who had never been in the field, relying on something so unscientific and completely unquantifiable.

"Well, if you think its worth it, I will rely on your judgment. Don't forget to check back in here in- How long until your next check in?"

"I'll let you know what's up in 36 hours. Sheppard out."

"Fine 36 hours-" Woolsey sighs as the wormhole closes," Good luck."

*****************

"Dr. Keller- we found a boy on the last raid. We don't know what Michael was doing with him or where his family is. So far all we've done is try to debrief him and give him a physical. It looked like he was suffering from the same neural-toxin that you have. We have been giving him the same meds, and Woolsey felt that you might be the best one to look after him. His name is Brandon. We think he's around 9. He's not too troublesome, and what with you staying out here-"Calvin mentions, a little uncertainly as he looks around the house, "I just thought..."

"Oh, of course Sgt. Jacobs-"

"Remember, Calvin... please."

"Of course, then you have to call me Jennifer. Calvin, I'd love to take care of Brandon. Where is he?" She looks around his shoulders, out the windows to his dark SUV.

"Nah, not out there... Jennifer, I thought you'd say that so I put him in your spare room while you were out walking." He tells her, a looking a little uncomfortable. Really though, he was thrilled to have her permission to call her by her name. He wouldn't do it, unless she insisted, every time, because he loved it when she did that. It was wonderful to be able to call her that out loud, not just in his head.

"Is he asleep?" A little perplexed at his being so quite in another room, she asks as she walks towards the staircase. Also a little creeped out tht this man had been in the house without her knowledge, possibly looking around.

"No-"he grabs her arm suddenly, "don't go up there. The meds have wiped him out pretty good. We only just started giving them to him. He'll start picking up in energy levels in another day or two. Remember, like how it was for you."

"Oh, yeah. Those first few days, maybe even a few weeks are still pretty fuzzy. I'll let him rest then." She turns back around facing the other man, "So are Sheppard and the team done? Will they be back soon?"

"No, they are still cleaning up from that last missi-raid and are starting to follow up on some new leads. We'll see where that goes, we're hoping it leads to the mother load. How's the research been going?" He asks her, hoping to prolong his visit. He knows how her research is going, after a few weeks of accelerated results right after she'd been moved, things had stagnated again. The fresh air seemed to be helping keep her cheerful and seeing new faces seemed to keep her busy. She still seemed to sense when he watched her, and on some level he was pretty sure she knew it was him. He noticed she smiled so much more when he was around, and she seemed to fidget quite a bit, like he made her nervous. It had been so long since anyone made him feel so... giddy?!? Happy?!? She made him look forward to the day, and it didn't even involve any kind of intimidation, torture or killing.

"Well, I seem to have hit a mental road block the last week or so, but if I keep chipping away at it... or maybe I need to scrap what I've done so far and try looking at things from another angle. I'm thinking that maybe the virus has an amino in common with-I am so sorry,"blush "I sometimes forget that no one else really understands what I'm saying. Thank you for asking, I seem to have hit a road block, but I'll be working around it. Would you like to have a cup of coffee?"

Chuckle. "Really Doc, no problem. I like hearing you talk, I-I mean, I like hearing the explanations to what your working on. I know I'm not a rocket scientist or anything, but its interesting. I may not follow everything, but I can follow enough to know when to nod my head." He stammers out, a little uneasily... it had been so long since he'd felt this way, if he ever had. "I'd love to stay for a coffee, but I can't. I have get back to my rounds."

"Really? But we aren't near anything! There isn't a soul near here, and the town is so small they'd know if anyone knew showed up. Isn't there someone else on patrol?" Jennifer asked, trying to sound innocent and not too interested. This whole fishing for information thing was harder than Laura made it look. She'd been finding Calvin friendly enough, and he seemed to be just this side of shy, which helped, but he gave her the creeps, which made it so much more difficult to be professional if not friendly, but he was the only one she'd seen in weeks.

"Yeah, Doc, there is another guy, but he works the night shift, he isn't on just yet. Don't worry, once Sheppard's team is done in the field for a bit, they'll be here...unless you wanted me to stop by more often... when I'm off duty?" He asked a little uncomfortably.

"No, no, no. I-I uh, mean, I don't want to eat into your few hours off duty. I take up enough of your time while your on-duty-"

"No problem. Really. I could stop by-"

"No! I think that for Brandon's sake we should try and keep things minimal and to a schedule... I hear that's good for children. Once he recovers more, I'll have you up for dinner sometime..."Jennifer said in a hurry. Her mind scrambling to any excuse to not have this man spend any more time at the house than necessary. It had been hard enough finding all the cameras, and she still wasn't sure she'd identified them all, the last thing she needed was someone watching her in person as well. She'd have to see what the deal was with Brandon... was he a hostage like her, or a plant to get information out of her?

"O-kay. I'll see you another time then. Bye Jennifer!" He said, waving over his shoulder, a little disappointed to not have an invite.

She waved to him, a little idly as her mind wandered...


	9. The pieces begin to fall into place

"John-- before 'They' cut out, I I got that they are on P3X-592... There wasn't any background noise-" said as he busily tapped his tablet.

"I heard birds." Ronon gruffly said, almost under his breath.

"Ok-Mr. Bird-guy- so they were outside or near someone who owns a bird..." McKay looked pointedly at the tall Sadetan before continuing exasperated,"but other than that there wasn't any other noises. I don't think that they knew we'd be here, or that we might be listening because they didn't even try to disguise voices, or technology. I think we should find out what we can about this world. If they are responsible, than the implications about Jennifer and the Trust?!?"

"Breathe McKay." John says with a smirk,"We don't know anything yet. We only think it may have to do with the Trust and Jennifer, but we don't know anything yet. Its a good idea to do some research, do some recon... find out what we can. I'm sure we'll be able to get something out of the SGC, they've been there before. While you get that info from Woolsey I'll go talk with the natives... See what they want to do."

"Hey- why do I have to-" the whine already building, before he thinks better of it.

"Rodney, you're the only one who'll know what your looking for and what to ask."

"Fine, whatever. Send the smartest man in the group, away."

"I'll go with him." Ronon says as he pushes away from the table and follows McKay out the door.

John smirked at McKay's retreating back, no matter what was happening, that man could complain about anything.

* * *

"I'm headin' to see Teyla." Ronon says as he walks by Shepard, McKay in his wake.

"John! I think I know what's going on! If people would just follow my orders, putting things how I tell them and adding them to my database we'd know-"

"Rodney. Slow down! I have no idea what you're talking about! What do you know, and what stuff are you talking about?" John interupted before McKay could really get going.

"Okay, first of all P3X-592 is a peaceful little backwoods place. SG-35 are there right now. They've been there for 2 days on a diplomatic mission. They haven't noticed anyone dressed similar to us, or anyone at all modern like Earth, they have not been watching the gate though and have called the SGC to check in once."

"So how are the kidnappers calling from there? Are they remote dialing, do they maybe live underground, like the Bola Kai? Wha-"

"Stop. I didn't finish explaining what all I've discovered. Alright... where was I... oh, yes, so meanwhile at the SGC there's a delegation of IOA there. They are doing a quick head count but it seems that they are short a few people. Meanwhile, back at Atlantis, Zalenka has been continuing my cataloguing of ancient devices that we've got and assigning them locations. It seems half a dozen of the personal invisibility devices we had are missing. We don't know when or who, but now we have a how. If the Trust operative got on Atlantis and downloaded Dr. Keller's work, then found themselves with a minute, why not go poking around in one of my labs and why not take the devices that will give them a limitless advantage over anyone else-"

"McKay!" John motions to stay on track, McKay nods and continues.

"Anyways- We are missing ancient devices that don't take ancient genes, that turn a person invisible. Why not take this a step further and say that the missing personel aren't missing, but on P3X-592 with SG-35 hiding out and using the gate whenever we dial? I think that's how they got to the planet. Woolsey said Cl. Mitchel is taking his team to help do a thorough search of the area. We figure they have to be in the immediate area, to know when the gate is activated, and to get there to leave."

"Is that it?"John asks, once McKay stops to take a breath.

"Is that it?!? Is that it?!? I've just put together more than half our puzzle!-Is that it-"

"McKay, that isn't what I meant. Just is that all we know now?" John continues, a little hurried, trying to shut down his new tirade.

"Oh, yeah, that's it. So what do you want to do?" He says turning to John.

"That is the question. I've talked to people here, and they are going to get the naqahduh ready- incase it comes to that, but they will allow us to carry out the search and rescue if only to keep the majority of the populace in the dark for as long as they can. So we go back, wait at the SGC- and follow whoever we shake up back to where ever they need to go." John states simply to his team before turning to leave. "Let'sgo pick up Teyla now, she's going to kill us for leaving her in diplomatic mode for so long." He smirks as he imagines how the last few hours must have been for her.

* * *

"Good morning, sleepy head. How are you feeling? I brought you a bowl of hot soup... Wait, wait, I won't hurt you!" Jennifer had quietly opened the guest bedroom door to start her new relationship with this 9 year old when he suddenly jerked away as if afraid she'd hurt him and tumbled over to the other side of the bed. "I know you've been through a lot... I'm your friend. Please. Please, come back to the bed I brought you something to eat. Food. It isn't much, but I thought we'd start you off slowly..." She continued to talk to the boy with the shaggy-emo-ish hair in a quiet calm voice.

He slowly crept back onto the bed and ate first one bite of the bread, then looked at the soup. He looked directly into Jennifer's eyes with his crystal blue ones and asked, "Who are you? How did I come here? Where am I?" Slowly he ate some soup while he waited for her answers.

"My name is Dr. Jennifer Keller. You may call me Jen or Jennifer or Jenny, I'll answer any of them. What do you remember last?" She calmly prods... hoping that this boy of the strangely mature personality is a friend as she suspects rather than the enemy that she dreads.

"Doc-tor. What does this mean?" He asks rather than answering her question.

"Doctors are healers. We help people that are injured or sick. Does your group have healers?" Jennifer explains as her mind immediately jumps to the possibility that he isn't from Earth, not just that he was held for his entire life with a terrorist cell. Even terrorists get sick and call doctors and have their children watch tv. She hoped she asked her question cleverly enough that whoever was watching/listening in would believe that she bought their story.

"


End file.
